Released on 28
April in conjunction with the Pitcairn Islandsthe
Norfolk Island and Isle of Man Postal Administrations was a souvenir sheet
which features one stamp illustrating Lt. Bligh and his party being cast
adrift, another (being an Isle of Man stamp on a Pitcairn stamp) showing
Fletcher Christian, and the third (a Norfolk Island stamp on a Pitcairn stamp)
depicting "mutineers and Polynesian maidens".

The Isle of Man
(NZ $2.40) and Norfolk Island (NZ $3.20) souvenir sheets, featuring the same
three designs in a different order but in the same format, were also produced.

1957
The Schoolteacher's house; this design first released on 2 July 1957 carried
the incorrect inscription "Pitcairn School". It was re-issued on
11 May 1958 with the correct inscription (With Bounty bible).

Without long
explanations all that can be said of Pitcairn's postal service during the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is that it was irregular and
unorganized. There being no postage stamps, mail from Pitcairn was often
handed to the captains of passing ships who paid for the onward postage upon
reaching their first port of call. Frequently such letters carried a
hand-stamped cachet "Posted in [or at] Pitcairn Island / No Stamps
Available".

Attempts were made by the British early in the twentieth
century to organize a postal service through the British Consul in Tahiti but
only small quantities of mail appear to have been carried. Probably the
most helpful measure was that introduced on a semi-official basis by Mr. Gerald
Bliss, postmaster in the Panama Canal Zone, shortly after the canal opened in
1915. Mr. Bliss acted as unofficial agent for the inhabitants of Pitcairn
for a number of years and his office became a clearing station for Pitcairn
Island mail.

A number of visiting government administrators having
pointed out over the years the disadvantages stemming from the lack of a postal
service, it was agreed by the British and New Zealand governments in 1921 that
both countries would accept and deliver unstamped mail from Pitcairn. The
concession consisted of a waiving of the normal double surcharge on unstamped
letters and reverting to the earlier postal system whereby the receiver paid
for the mail.

In time, abuses of the system (passengers in passing ships
were reputedly putting mail ashore for onward transmission under the "no
stamp" system) led to New Zealand Post Office authorities withdrawing the
concession in May 1926. There followed a period of twelve months when
Pitcairn was once again without an authorized postal service.

This unhappy state of affairs ended on 7 June 1927, when an
agency was established on Pitcairn for the sale of New Zealand stamps.
Thus, until 14 October, mail dispatched from Pitcairn bore New Zealand postage
stamps covered by cancellations reading "Pitcairn Island/NZ Postal Agency".

Largely as a result of recommendations made by Mr. J S
Neill, a Colonial Office employee sent out in 1937 to report on and suggest
improvements for the form of government on Pitcairn, official notice was given
on 30 April 1940 of the establishment of a Post Office on the island. In
due course this led to the closing of the NZ Post Office Agency on 14 October
1940 and the opening the following day of the Pitcairn Islands Post Office with
the release of the first Pitcairn Islands stamps. This consisted of the
eight designs making up the definitive issue that remained on sale until July
1957.

Designs for this set incorporate stamps on stamps.
One definitive stamp from each decade since 1940 has been selected to represent
Settlement, Education, Communication, Royalty and Ships.

Scott:#452P

Issued: 17.5.1996

CHINA '96, 9th Asian Intl. Philatelic Exhibition

Inside
#452: People’s Republic of China #1900O
Jiazi Year (Year of the Rat)

Scott: #520aO

Issued: 22.5.2000

Stamp Show 2000 Exhibition

Inside #520a (In margin of sheet-logo): G.B #1O

Scott: #790a-dO

Issued: 11.12.2014

75th Anniversary of the Adm. Byrd Visit to Pitcairn

Inside #790b: New Zealand #226

Lou wrote: In 1939, the post office on Pitcairn was run by
a New Zealand Postal Agency, and a limited supply of New Zealand stamps was kept
on hand to cover the needs when a ship made a call on the island and took on
mail. When Byrd and his vessel stopped at the island to take on water
supplies, the agency and some members of the ship's crew, with Byrd's approval,
created a special printed cacheted envelope to note
the visit. The hundreds of letters the crew mailed as souvenirs depleted the
stock of stamps, so most of them went out without stamps but marked that
postage had been paid. The cover on #790a-b is one of the few with stamps, and
the strip of five are all New Zealand #226.

October 15 2015 is exactly 75 years since the Pitcairn
Islands released its first issue of postage stamps. The journey to get to this stage
was long and slow and began in 1887 when Pitcairn was formally incorporated
into the Empire under the British Settlements Act. Officialdom refused to
consider issuing stamps, even after a formal proposal from a MrPetch in 1905 when his design
was presented to the Colonial Office. Pitcairn mail did leave the Island,
however, with the first known example being recorded in 1882 bearing a US
stamp. Pitcairn was "recognised" in 1921
when covers being sent were impressed with a rubber handstamp
inscribed: POSTED AT PITCAIRN ISLAND – NO STAMPS AVAILABLE. In 1927 a postal
agency was established on Pitcairn by New Zealand authorities, after which NZ
postage franked most of the mail that left the Island.

The recognition for who was responsible for the first stamps
(eight definitives) is unknown. H.E.Maude,
then Crown Commissioner for Pitcairn, spent time on Pitcairn in 1940 and took a
keen interest in the situation and eventually set up the first Post Office. A.E.Fuller of the GPO in Fiji, where Pitcairn postal
affairs were to be administered, was also involved. He in fact accompanied the
first shipment of stamps to Pitcairn in September 1940.Dr
Arthur Delaney, from his article "Pitcairn’s First issue" (SPA
Journal, Vol. 33, Nov. 1970), from whom most of the background is taken and
gratefully acknowledged, writes that the inspiration for the first issuance of
stamps must go to Karl Baarslag who visited Pitcairn
in 1935 as a radio officer on the yacht Vagabondia.
He discussed with Andrew Young (Pitcairn’s unofficial postmaster at the time)
about Pitcairn possibly having its own stamps. The Commissioner had turned down
several petitions from the Island but Baarslag gave
details of a similar example for the island of Barbuda in the West Indies.
Young and the Chief Magistrate, Parkin Christian,
then planned their strategy and Pitcairn had its own stamps five years later.

The designs for the first issue also had a difficult
journey. A number of essays were submitted to the King for approval but several
were sent back for revision or rejected outright, including an image of
Fletcher Christian superimposed on a view of Bounty Bay. (Christian did make it
however on the 1d, 1/- and 2/6 stamps). These original designs are now housed
in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. The intent of the originators of
Pitcairn’s first stamps was to show the Bounty saga, although the link of the
oranges shown in the ½ stamp is somewhat dubious. All stamps incorporated the
Bertram Park portrait of King George VI as an inset. Other design points to
note are the inclusion of Christian and five mutineers (1d and 2/6 stamps) from
the print "The Mutiny on the Bounty" by Robert Dodd (1790), now in
the collection of William Dixon, NSW, Australia; the portrait of
Fletcher Christian (1/- stamp) (artist unknown) also in the Dixon
Collection; Bounty Bay (2/6 stamp) taken from the book "Pitcairn: The
Island, the People, and the Pastor" by the Rev. Thomas Murray (1855); John
Adams (1½d stamp) from the drawing by Capt. R. Beechey(1825).
The engraving was by H. Adlard who also engraved the
image of John Adams’ house shown in the 1½d stamp. Bligh’s image in the 2d
stamp is from a sketch by J. Russell and engraved by Adlard
and the Bounty was adapted from a still from the first motion picture in 1935.
The printing of the first definitive is also interesting. The 1d, 3d and 2/6
stamps were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson and Co. Ltd. of London and were
slightly smaller than the remaining values which were printed by Waterlow and Sons Ltd. of New Malden. The entire series was
recess engraved and printed on paper watermarked with the multiple crown and
script "C.A." of Crown Agents.A
new Post Office was constructed and the first definitives
went on sale on October 15 1940 and were withdrawn on July 1 1957.Eight reprintings were made during this time. Sales were
staggering - Maude and his wife stamped covers for 16 days although the date
stamp remained firmly on 15 Oct. 1940! After this it was destroyed to stop
entrepreneurial Islanders from profiting into the future.In
1951 the original eight definitive stamps were joined by two additional stamps
featuring the original Bounty Bible (4d stamp) and the Schoolhouse, as seen in
1949 on the 8d stamp. Both stamps were designed to fit into the definitive
family look with the King’s head inset as for the original designs. The
Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau has added the two 1951 stamps to this issue
giving the 2015 definitives a total of ten stamps.
This is to ensure most make up rates are covered (the 2007 definitives
featured 12 stamps) and to treat the 2015 release as a commemoration of the
"early" definitives in addition to the
"first" definitives.

The First Day Covers show early photographs of the Post
Office and staff, including Roy Clark. What is also interesting on these covers
are the two cachets shown. While the first likely cachet was of the schooner
Yankee, skippered by Captain Irving Johnson and used by the Islanders who
produced "home-made" covers featuring the new definitive, the first
cachets specifically prepared are known in philately as Types 12 and
13. The designer of Type 12 is unknown and all the text is with the type in
blue. Type 13 is thought to have been designed by R.H. Mower of San Francisco,
California. His cachet refers to Pitcairn as the Gem of the South Pacific.The
Philatelic Bureau is proud to both commemorate the 75th Anniversary of
Pitcairn’s first stamp issue and brings you the amended original designs that are
fitting for such an important occasion.